


Powerful Acts of Beneficence

by keegank



Category: LISA (Video Games)
Genre: Angst, Blood and Gore, Don't Try This At Home, Emetophobia, M/M, Short One Shot, Surgery, kind of; it's all medical
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-11
Updated: 2020-08-11
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:53:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,056
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25845358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/keegank/pseuds/keegank
Summary: Common sense says that surgery should be left to the professionals. Common sense has never met Alex Churchland.
Relationships: Alex Churchland/Joel Miller, but why would you - Relationship, you could certainly take this one as entirely platonic
Kudos: 9





	Powerful Acts of Beneficence

**Author's Note:**

> this one's dedicated to my friend gigi, who gave me this idea  
> just a fair warning: if you like these two (ESPECIALLY joel) this might be very unpleasant to read. my chest hurt writing it
> 
> also, alex is obviously not a surgeon. im providing a comprehensive list of what he does that you should not in the second note after the story just in case; not putting it here to avoid spoilers.

Alex paid no attention to the bloody corpse on the ground nearby. His only focus at the moment was making his way back to the cave he'd left Joel in. He'd found what he needed to save him, but an innocent old man and his dog were dead because of him now-- the first time he'd taken a life that wasn't in self defense. 

He was numb to it. At the moment, he was numb to everything.  
The beauty of the area around him. The television show. The man in the pink mask. The bodies he left on the floor of the shack.

Corked bottles of warm soup he'd taken from his latest victim clanked around in his pocket as he crouched down to re-enter the cave. Joel glanced up as his companion entered, hopping down rocks to get to him.

"You came back?"  
Alex nodded, placing the bag on the ground. "I got a trauma kit to help you out."  
Joel's eyes widened. "Those are damn rare..." Then he smiled. "Powerful acts of beneficience, Lucky. Thank you."  
"Anything to keep you around." Alex smiled in return. Joel rubbed the back of his neck nervously as Alex pulled the bag open.  
"This thing better be user friendly."

"So... surgery, eh?"  
"Yup." Alex was inspecting the tools, looking for some kind of guide. "I think you should know I've never done anything like this before. Just in case you'd prefer I don't go poking around in there."  
"I trust you." Joel replied, but he didn't sound confident. Alex decided to chock it up to nerves.  
"But with something like _this?"_  
"I don't have many other options, Lucky."  
"I know. I'll be as careful as possible."  
"Wouldn't expect anything else."

Alex rooted around in his inventory a little, pulling out a bit of potato liquor. There wasn't much left, and he'd need some as disinfectant-- but just the slightest amount of pain reduction could help.  
"Here. Have a swig."  
Joel took the bottle and raised it to his lips, face twisting as he handed it back to Alex.  
"Nasty."  
"I agree." The old man chuckled a little. "But it'll help take away some of the pain."  
"I guess..." Joel looked anxious again, not looking at Alex. "When're we gonna do this?"  
"Now, I suppose," Alex said, and Joel went pale. "Can't find anything that'll tell me what to do... guess I'm just winging it."  
"That's reassuring." The pistolero was trying to joke, but Alex could see his hands trembling. He took them in his own.  
"Hey. It's going to be all right, okay Joel? We just need to get this done quick so Infinity doesn't catch up with us."  
Joel nodded in understanding, clenching his jaw. He was still anxious, but he wasn't going to insult Alex by asking him if he would be careful. He knew he would be.

"Now, lay down." Alex instructed him. Joel took off his hat, setting it aside, and did so as Alex kneeled down by his side and pulled the trauma kit closer. "And try to stay still, all right?"  
Joel nodded, feeling sick to his stomach. He was trying not to express any signs of fear outright, but he was terrified.  
"Can't be lucky enough to have any painkillers in there?" he asked, and Alex shook his head as he sterilized the scalpel with some more alcohol.  
"Nope. I checked."  
"Shit..."  
"It's gonna be okay." Alex reassured him once more. "Just stay still and stay calm."

Joel said nothing, and when Alex got everything in order, he scooched a little closer. He gently unbuckled Joel's coat, opening it up and beginning to feel around his bare chest for the broken parts. Joel jumped, sucking in sharply through his teeth as Alex touched one of the bruised areas.  
"Right there?"  
"Mmhm."  
"Anywhere else?"  
"Here." Joel pointed at the area he was referring to, and Alex took note. He pulled out a black marker from the kit and circled the broken parts.  
"Okay. Are you ready?"  
Joel was silent for a moment.  
"...Yes."

When he got the go-ahead, Alex gently pressed his hand to Joel's chest, pressing his scalpel into the skin beside it. A bead of red appeared there against the blade immediately, and Joel made a pained noise. Alex tried to ignore it as he cut down, the blade sliding neatly, his movements smooth as velvet. Through the prickling ache, Joel watched as his skin parted. It made him want to vomit, but there was nothing in his stomach to chuck up. Even if there were, he wouldn't dare; just breathing was making him suffer. 

Alex wiped some blood from the wound with his free hand, before taking both sides of the incision and stretching it open to reveal the muscle beneath. Joel shrieked at this, twisting-- and Alex, startled, let him go.  
"I told you to stay still." Alex said, more calmly than he felt. He hated causing Joel this much pain, but it would be worth it. If he didn't do this, they'd be stuck here until the Franchise came after them.  
"M sorry... I can't..."  
"You have to."  
"I can't do this."  
"You _have_ to." Alex reiterated. "We've come this far. You can't give up."

Joel said nothing, so Alex continued, prying the soft tissues apart once more. Joel cried out again, clenching his fists, but this time remained still. There was still a bit underneath he had to cut into to get to the ribs, so he grabbed the scalpel once more and made another long cut. Joel was crying with the pain, and Alex couldn't bring himself to look at his face. Hearing his whimpers was bad enough.

Despite the utter torture, there was something about this, Joel thought, the way Alex was touching him, so careful, his movements precise. Being beaten, being held, touched in a moment of soft-heartedness... none of it compared.

Once the muscle was cut, Alex pried that apart as well-- and Joel, knocked out of his thoughts, squirmed again.  
"Stay _still,"_ Alex hissed, more out of frustration than anything, and Joel stopped, but he still sobbed, his exposed chest rising and lowering.  
Alex looked back into what he'd exposed, and he couldn't help but stare. Joel's chest cavity was completely open, heart working overtime to keep him alive, lungs heaving, blood pooling into the back. He couldn't help but take a moment.

Joel's breath hitched with another sob of agony, and Alex could see it tremble through him. Raw and red, drowning the tender pink flesh of his lungs. As it turned out, he didn't need to circle the broken or bent areas after all; he could see them clearly. He could see a few small fractures, but those would heal on their own. Neither of his lungs had been punctured, thank God. Alex took ahold of one rib, trying to shape it back into its proper place in the chest. Joel cried out again, grasping at his forehead.

"Oh, Christ Almighty help me," he whimpered, begging to something unseen. Alex said nothing, pausing for a moment. He dug around in his inventory once more, grabbing an Infinity jersey.  
"Here." He offered it to Joel. He moved just his head to look over at him, too afraid to move any other part.  
"What's that for?" he asked hoarsely. Seeing him properly now, Alex could see that his face was wet with tears and perspiration. He felt a twinge of guilt, but put it aside. His own feelings were irrelevant right now.  
"Bite down on it. It'll help."  
Joel took it weakly in his hand, rolling it up. "Thank you."  
"Of course." Alex leaned forward, stroking his hair a little. Joel put the jersey in his mouth and closed his eyes.  
"I'm going to get back to work." Alex warned him, and his companion nodded, bracing himself for worse pain. Alex snapped another rib back into place, and Joel screamed in pain once more, his cries of agony muffled by the jersey. 

As Alex pieced Joel's ribcage back together fully, the man in question let out an occasional wheeze or whimper, his gutted body aching all over. Blood from the surgical wound was flowing into his chest, but Alex didn't know what to do about that. There was no true internal bleeding, so he supposed didn't have to worry much. It would probably resolve itself when he stitched Joel back up; the human body was an incredible thing, after all. When everything was back in order, he moved back, inspecting it. From what he remembered of high school biology textbooks-- which was very little-- things looked normal again.

"Think I've got you all patched up," Alex said to his friend, sounding oddly cheerful. The slight bit of happiness he got from his success rushed out of him when he noticed Joel didn't reply.  
"Joel?" Alex asked softly. His eyes were closed, and Alex felt something close in on him. His ears began to ring. Quickly, almost frantically, he pressed two fingers to his friend's neck, glancing down into the chest cavity... and there his heart was, still pounding, and the pulsing in his neck told Alex the same. He'd just passed out.

The old man sighed in relief, pulling out a needle and surgical thread. As he began to stitch his friend's muscle back together, he felt his hands start to tremble. He swore, shaking his hands to steady himself-- now wasn't the time. He continued to work the needle back and forth, Joel's soft tissues so easy to take apart just as much so to put back together.  
Alex's next interruption came soon after, though, when his eyesight went blurry. It genuinely took him a moment to realize he was crying. Cursing himself again, he wiped at his eyes to prevent the tears from dripping down into the wound. Hiccuping, he tried to focus on his work. The needle going in, the needle going out, his friend's body's mechanisms neatly hidden away once again. 

When the topmost layer of skin was sewn shut, all that remained was a thin line between Joel's breasts and the stitches used to hold the incision together. Alex pulled out the last of the liquor and poured it onto the gash to disinfect it. 

And that was that. Alex put the contaminated items back into the trauma kit; no way to wash them properly now. He'd have to dispose of it.  
Joel was still asleep, so Alex gently took his shoulders, propping him up against the cave wall. He'd heard somewhere that sleeping upright helped with broken bones like this... he couldn't remember where. He sat next to his friend, both of their eyes wet and red from weeping. All he could do now was wait for him to wake up.

\---

As it turned out, that didn't take very long. Alex perked up when he felt his friend stir beside him, groaning in pain. He turned to him. Joel was rubbing his eyes, jaw clenched once more.  
"Hey," Alex said, and Joel glanced at him.  
"How long have I been out?"  
"Not long," the garbage man replied. "You just went under at the end there."  
Joel said nothing. He felt strange- adrenaline, maybe, or the pain registering in full.

"...I'm sorry." Alex said at last, staring at the ground.  
"Don't be. You did everything you could. S'not your fault I couldn't handle it."  
"I know. I just..." He paused for a moment. "I just didn't like hurting you, is all."  
"I didn't like it, either." Despite himself, Joel flashed a grin. "But it worked out, didn't it? Just like you said it would."  
Alex nodded. "I would never lie to you."  
"Thank you, Lucky."  
"You wanna rest a little more?" he asked.  
"Yeah," Joel replied. "Don't think I'm ready to walk just yet."  
"Right. How's the pain?"  
"Not too bad. As long as I'm not movin'."  
"That's a good sign... I hope."

Joel nodded, getting a bit more comfortable against the wall. His mouth was dry, and he ached. Alex leaned on his shoulder, careful not to aggravate his wound.

"When do you think we should get goin' again?"  
"Don't worry about that for now. Just rest a while."

Joel said nothing more, resting his head against his companion's. He closed his eyes, and breathed.

**Author's Note:**

> -don't ever use alcohol as disinfectant in real life unless absolutely necessary; it kills pathogens but it can also kill exposed tissue  
> -don't get someone drunk before a surgical procedure; yes it slows down the nervous system and kills up to 50% of pain, but you can build up a tolerance to it, it doesn't mix well with medication, and drinking is dangerous in general  
> -getting someone to bite down on a rag is practically the only good thing alex did here; it gives the person a means to cope with their pain and keeps them from screaming  
> -lastly, don't perform surgery if you're a garbage man, aka not a professional  
> 💕 have a nice day & stay safe, peebrains


End file.
